Seoul Tower

On Wednesday, David and I decided to take a walk up to N Seoul Tower. We live right at the base of the mountain on which the tower sits and it's a big landmark in the city. I always know how to get home once I see the tower, which is very convenient for me.

We began our hike a little after 6pm, once it had cooled down. I did not realize just how big the mountain is until we started climbing it. But it was a beautiful walk. There is a large pedestrian path up the mountain which winds through lots of trees and bushes. I'd forgotten what it felt like to be around pure, untouched nature. You don't find a lot of it in Seoul. (One downside is that I did meet with a lot of mosquitoes along the way. And I'm like candy to mosquitoes.) The path is great for exercising (in fact, most people walking up and down the path were obviously doing it for exercise) and there's even an outdoor gym of sorts near the top.

We finally reached the top before it grew too dark. The tower boasts several shops (including a Coldstones! I must return and get some), a teddy bear museum, restaurants, and observatory. You have to pay to get to the top of the tower (there's a restaurant at top that even rotates one revolution every hour) but David and I opted not to go up. Though it was a pretty day, I'd rather pay the 7,000 won on a clearer day. Besides, we still had a pretty amazing view from the base of the tower.

This is looking at the southern tip of Seoul that is to the north of the Han river. (Did that make any sense?) You can barely make out the Han River and all the traffic as people leave downtown Seoul to head into the outskirts. If you notice on the left hand side of this picture, where there are actually trees, vegetation, and it doesn't look like a massive crowd of buildings, that's the base. And you can also probably tell by its prime location in Seoul why the Koreans would like to have that space back. Most of the troops in Seoul will be re-located farther south, near Osan and Camp Humphreys, in the next several years.

The railing around the base of the tower are full of these locks, most with love notes written on them. At least, that's what David told me. There were some in English, but obviously, the majority were in Korean. It was actually pretty neat. And the "love benches" up there are designed to slope inward so that you have to sit near each other.

One lone lock and note and the view of Seoul.

We stayed up there for about 45 minutes, enjoying the breeze and the view. By the time we left, it was pretty much dark. But I snapped one last shot of the tower before we headed home.

On the weekends, they shine different colored lights on the white shaft of the tower which is pretty neat to see. We'll definitely have to come back up another night to go to the top and eat some Coldstones. It's always nice to have a little flavor of home in a foreign country.